UNHRC

Monitoring and advocacy for respect of human rights by the Southern African (SADC) human rights organisations and groups appear very weak at the United Nations Human Rights Council. This is evidenced in the formal and informal gatherings of the HRC. There are many reasons for this lack of visibility but skills, capacity and resources are attributable to this gap. HURISA attends the sessions of HRC to advocate for change in the situation of human rights from the grassroots. Monitoring at HRC is very critical to ensure that South Africa uses its human rights record to change human rights situations in the globe. This is done by engaging South African officials at UN and domestically on recommendations for redevelopment of resolutions and human rights policies to end discrimination on the ground of sex and gender. Our lobbying skills are been sharpened to contribute constructively in the programme of the HRC. HURISA organises strategies interventions with HRDs and contributes in joint submissions of NGOs in the UPR processes.

Constitution of South Africa

Amid a recent uptick in violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday said he stood in solidarity with the crisis torn country and warned that attacks against defenseless civilians and UN ‘blue helmets’ may amount to war crimes.

United Nations Secretary-General António Gutteres condemned the killing of seven peacekeepers on Wednesday serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is also confronting a lethal Ebola outbreak.

Africa’s crisis-torn Sahel region needs support from the international community “now more than ever,” the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, told the Security Council on Thursday.

A range of international sanctions imposed against Eritrea nearly a decade ago, were unanimously lifted by the Security Council on Wednesday, four months after the signing of an historic peace agreement with Ethiopia in July.

Families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are being supported by their government and the United Nations to protect the environment and build what the UN Development Programme calls “climate-resilient lives.”

With key national elections due next month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), armed groups in the east of the country still threaten to derail the vote, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.

To build a sustainable peace in Africa’s Sahel region, “urgent attention” is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure that communities have access to sufficient opportunities, a joint meeting between the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN Peacebuilding Commission highlighted on Tuesday.

Outer space and disaster response experts, on Monday, gathered at a United Nations forum in Bonn, Germany, to discuss how “big data” including social media, crowdsourcing and satellite imaging, can reduce the risk of natural disasters in Africa and support response efforts when they strike.